Space Industry and Business News
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
UN denounces army attacks in Myanmar despite post-quake truce
UN denounces army attacks in Myanmar despite post-quake truce
by AFP Staff Writers
Geneva (AFP) April 11, 2025

The United Nations rights office decried Friday attacks by Myanmar's military despite a ceasefire declared following last month's devastating earthquake, which killed more than 3,600 people.

"At a moment when the sole focus should be on ensuring humanitarian aid gets to disaster zones, the military is instead launching attacks," spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.

UN rights chief Volker Turk, she said, "calls on the military to remove any and all obstacles to the delivery of humanitarian assistance and to cease military operations".

A multi-sided conflict has engulfed Myanmar since 2021, when Min Aung Hlaing's military wrested power from the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Following reports of sporadic clashes even after the March 28 quake that so far is known to have killed at least 3,645 people, the junta joined its opponents last week in calling a temporary halt to hostilities for relief to be delivered.

But Shamdasani highlighted that since the earthquake, "military forces have reportedly carried out over 120 attacks".

"More than half of them (were) after their declared ceasefire was due to have gone into effect on 2 April," she said.

The UN rights office had determined that most of these involved aerial and artillery strikes, she said, "including in areas impacted by the earthquake".

"Numerous strikes have been reported in populated areas, many of them appearing to amount to indiscriminate attacks and to breach the principle of proportionality in international humanitarian law."

- 'Systematic and escalating' -

Shamdasani pointed out that areas at the epicentre of the quake in Sagaing, particularly those controlled by opponents of the military, "have had to rely on local community responses for search and rescue, and to meet basic needs".

"Clearly these valiant efforts need to be further supported," she said, calling for "common efforts to assist those in greatest need".

"In this spirit we call on the military to announce a full amnesty for detainees it has incarcerated since February 2021, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint."

The UN's Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) also decried the attacks.

"Even as rescue workers searched for survivors during the devastating earthquake last month, the military continued its air attacks in Mandalay, Sagaing and other regions, killing and injuring civilians," it said in a statement.

Nicholas Koumjian, head of the investigative team, slammed "the systematic and escalating use of air strikes by the Myanmar military across the country", which "caused widespread death, destruction and displacement, and has terrorised communities".

He said Friday marked the two-year anniversary of military strikes in the now quake-hit Sagaing region, which constituted the deadliest single attack in Myanmar since the coup.

The military air strikes on Pazi Gyi village on April 11 2023 killed at least 155 people, including many children.

"Aerial bombardments, including the use of drones and alleged use of chemical weapons, are a grim hallmark of the Myanmar conflict and have increased in frequency since the Pazi Gyi attack," the IIMM statement said.

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
A world of storm and tempest
When the Earth Quakes

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
EU funding of NGOs 'too opaque', auditors find amid political storm
Brussels, Belgium (AFP) April 7, 2025
EU funding of non-governmental organisations is "too opaque", auditors found on Monday in a report set to further fan a heated political tussle over the financing of environmental groups. The European Union awarded about 7.4 billion euros ($8 billion) to a plethora of NGOs between 2021 and 2023, but public information about who got the money and how it was used is patchy, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) said. "EU funding for NGOs is too opaque and suffers from a lack of transparency," said ... read more

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Meta to start using Europeans' data for AI training May 27

Cambodia's Chinese casino city bets big on Beijing

Meta to train AI models on European users' public data

Sierra Space teams with Honda and Tec-Masters for ISS clean energy test

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Trace wins major Army network contracts worth $373M

CesiumAstro joins Taiwan's initiative to build LEO satellite network

Senator questions canceling planned military satellites in favor of SpaceX

Skyloom completes OCT hardware deliveries for SDA York mission

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Digging Gets Smarter with Trimble's Siteworks Upgrade for Excavators

Rx Networks launches TruePoint FOCUS to deliver real-time centimeter precision

Carbon Robotics debuts autonomous tractor system with live remote control capability

Towards resilient navigation in the Baltics without satellites

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
China tells airlines to suspend Boeing jet deliveries: report

Boeing faces fresh crisis with US-China trade war

In skies, as on land, European forces face gaps if US pulls back

Colombia to buy Swedish fighter jets after turning down France, US offers

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Nvidia CEO in Beijing as US tech curbs, trade war threaten sales

Nvidia expects $5.5 bn hit as US targets chips sent to China

AMD says US rule on chips to China could cost it $800 mn

Europe seeks to break its US tech addiction

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Weather satellite operational, completes fleet to forecast severe storms on Earth

NASA Announces Call for New Computing Approaches to Earth Science

EarthDaily Prepares to Launch Advanced Change Detection Satellite

Hunga volcano eruption cooled, rather than warmed, the Southern Hemisphere

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Global plastic recycling rates 'stagnant' at under 10%: study

EU greenlights new microplastic rules after tensions

Clean streets vs business woes: pollution charge divides Londoners

Illegal mining on Indigenous lands in Brazil dropped under Lula: report

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.